


I will be here for you

by seasparks



Category: CrossCode (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Compliant, CrossCode Spoilers, Drama, F/F, Peril, Post-Canon, answer yes, gals bein pals, ladies is it gay to go on long walks with your girlfriend and just bask in each other's company
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:53:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25481962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seasparks/pseuds/seasparks
Summary: After a routine update to CrossWorlds, Lea comes under attack by the very fabric of CrossWorlds itself! Emilie is still processing everything that's happened in her life since she met Lea, but she knows one thing for certain: Lea is dear to her, and there's no way she'll let her get torn away again without a fight. Or at least a hell of a lot of punching.
Relationships: Lea/Emilie
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This has MAJOR spoilers in it! Do not read it if you haven't beat the game and don't want to be spoiled!

"What a beautiful day for a walk!" said Emilie, her arms outstretched toward the sky as she walked through Autumn's Fall.

Lea nodded firmly in agreement.

The two made eye contact and burst out into laughter, unable to contain it any longer. With few exceptions, the zones in CrossWorlds generally had the same weather all the time.

In the months since Lea's reactivation, she and Emilie had made a point of setting aside some time each week just to spend some casual time together to give Lea a sense of normalcy. Playing CrossWorlds together was fun, but unlike Emilie, Lea couldn't just log off and enjoy the real world; CrossWorlds _was_ her real world. Instead, they made do with just ignoring the game-y aspects of the their surroundings and enjoying the scenery and each other's company.

"It feels like forever ago that we followed that annoying bunny here," Emilie said. She still had to do the bulk of the talking, but she didn't mind. After the constant worry for months that she would never get to see Lea again, any time spent with her was a priceless treasure to Emilie. "You really showed that thing who's boss, huh?" she continued, mimicking some decidedly un-Sphereomancer-like punches in the air. Lea laughed at her antics, making her smile in return.

"So, how about you?" Emilie asked Lea. "Learn any new words lately?"

Lea hesitated for a moment, then shook her head with downcast eyes. "Sorry..."

" _Non non_ , it's okay, _chérie!_ " Emilie quickly said. She put her arm around Lea's shoulder and gave her a little comforting squeeze as they walked. "Besides, it wasn't too long ago that you got all our names! That's a lot!"

Lea nodded. "Emilie!!" she said enthusiastically, making Emilie's heart skip a beat. It was going to be a long time before she got used to that.

The pair walked along in comfortable silence for a while longer, eventually arriving at an out-of-the-way area by the water with hardly any foot traffic. "Here we are! Our nice little patch in the sun. They sat down next to each other near a tree, enjoying the sounds of the running water and the rustling leaves. "College is still going alright. All my classes this semester seem a lot more low-key, at least, which is good, considering how much time I spend in here with you! A-and the others, of course," she added hastily.

"Thanks," said Lea, smiling. She rested her head on Emilie's shoulder. "Thanks, Emilie," she repeated more softly."

"Sleepy?" asked Emilie. Lea nodded. "Am I comfy, I hope?" Another nod. "Good. We can just stay like this for a while, if you want." Emilie shifted a little closer to Lea, grateful that avatars generated simulated body warmth. After a few moments, Emilie spoke up again. "Lea, I've got something I want—"

She was interrupted by a chime in her ear and a message that suddenly popped up in her field of view. "Attention players: the CrossWorlds server is going to shut down in five minutes for a scheduled security update. Any players online at that time will be signed out. The update is expected to take less than thirty minutes. Thank you for your understanding. We hope you are enjoying your time in CrossWorlds!"

Lea bolted forward in response to the surprise alert; Emilie guessed she must have been half-asleep. "WHYYY?!?!" she shouted, an exasperated look on her face. _She must have been really comfortable,_ Emilie thought to herself.

Out loud, Emilie shouted, " _Merde!_ I can't believe I forgot about that stupid update!" She punched the ground a few times, but it didn't help her feel any better. "Well...I guess I'll log out for now, then meet you back here in half an hour or so?"

Reluctantly, Lea nodded. "Bye, Emilie," she said, and gave Emilie a hug. "Lea wait, meet Emilie!" Emilie returned the hug, then logged off.

At least there were things for Emilie to do offline. She had a routine that Sergey had suggested after growing concerned about how much time Emilie was spending in the game. As soon as she got out of the CrossGear, she did some stretches, took a big drink of water, and set off for the kitchen, stopping by the bathroom on her way there. In the kitchen, she fixed herself a sandwich—usually peanut butter and jelly—then hurried back to her room to wait for CrossWorlds to come back online. Theoretically she could have spent some of her extra time making herself a nicer snack, but Emilie was not a woman of patience: she wanted back in to see Lea as soon as she could.

Finally, after just under an hour, she was able to log back in, reappearing just across from Lea, who from the looks of things had logged in at more or less the exact same moment. Emilie breathed a sigh of relief. Try as she might, she could never quite stifle the part of her that worried she would never see Lea again every time she went offline. "Lea, _chérie_ , I'm back!" she said exuberantly, sweeping Lea up in another big hug. "Did you miss me?"

Lea nodded sheepishly. "Hi, Emilie!" She looked like she was trying to figure out how to say something else when suddenly, a big red error box appeared over her, accompanied by warning sirens.

"Alert: aberrant instant matter construct detected. Dispatching antivirus suite. We apologize for the inconvenience," said an incongruously-calm voice. After a few moments, it repeated its message.

" _Merde, merde, merde!_ " cried Emilie. She dismissed the warning with a scowl. "What the hell is going on? Lea, are you okay?"

Lea looked around in panic and confusion. "How?!" she replied.

Emilie shrugged. "Good point. I wonder if Sergey knows what— _mon dieu_ , what is happening in there?!" She pointed at the forest just across the water where several enormous hedgehags had just emerged from the trees. She scanned them, then frowned. "They're just showing up as 'Hedgehag Antivirus' to me. I can't even see their level or stats; it's all hidden. You?" Lea nodded. It was the same on her side. "Well, they're big, but they're just hedgehags. How bad could it be?"

As if on cue, one of the hedgehags opened its mouth. It didn't make a sound, but several instant matter orbs formed in front of it. The orbs started to glow with an eerie green light, then shot quickly toward Lea. With a yelp, she dodged behind a tree, the projectiles bouncing harmlessly off of it and disappearing. The rest of the hedgehags took this as a sign to begin attacks of their own.

" _Merde!_ " Emilie cursed as their mouths started to open. "I just had to say something, didn't I? Let's get away from these things. To Rhombus Square!"

Lea frowned and shook her head.

"What? Why not?" Emilie demanded incredulously. "They're antiviruses! They think you're a virus!" To her chagrin, her eyes started to tear up. "Antiviruses delete viruses!! Are you just gonna let them kill you for real?!?!"

Frustrated, Lea grabbed Emilie's hand pulled her into a run, away from the danger and further into the woods.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lea and Emilie get in touch with Sergey and find a place to lay low. Emilie is very...Emilie about the situation.

"Lea! Lea!! What the fuck! Is going on!" Emilie called out as Lea pulled her through Autumn's Fall at a breakneck pace.

"How?!" came the reply from in front of her.

"Fair enough!" But Emilie wasn't about to let a little thing like rationality get in the way of her terror and anger. "So, what, I'm just supposed to follow you through here until you get killed right in front of me?! Fuck that! If you're gonna be like that I'll just log off and—"

"WAIT!" Lea shouted, her voice tinged with panic. She stopped running, letting go of Emilie's hand, and spun around to face her. Emilie could see how wide her eyes were, the tears that were streaming down her face.

"Lea, I just—"

Lea cut her off. "Meet Sergey," she said, her voice shaking.

"What?" said Emilie, her eyes narrowing. "So you'll tell Sergey what's going on, but not me?" Lea just stared at her until she realized how foolish she sounded. "...oh, right, you can't. So I should probably...right, okay," she said sheepishly.

Luckily, Sergey answered the call almost right away. "Hello, Emilie!" he said cheerfully. "It's so nice to hear from—oh, no, what's wrong?" He noticed the tears on the girls' faces and switched gears, his expression becoming serious, his voice full of concern. " What's going on?"

"We were on a, um, we were hanging out and the game updated and I ate a sandwich and waited and then there was an error and it said she was a virus??? And now the hedgehags are _trying to kill her but for real and she won't just travel away or log out, Sergey please tell her she needs to travel away or log out!!_ " Emilie blurted out all at once, on the edge of hysteria.

"You did the right thing by calling me," said Sergey calmly. "You can relax, though; everything's going to be okay. Even if the antivirus software does think Lea's a virus, it can't just...oh." His eyes went wide. "I see. This should be impossible, but...apparently it can. Emilie is right; Lea is in mortal danger."

"Oh, _merde_." Emilie got down on her knees and looked up at Lea with pleading eyes. "Please, Lea, I'm begging you, get out of here! They're going to kill you if you don't and I can't bear the thought of losing you again! _Please!_ "

Lea just shook her head sadly, and Emilie broke down sobbing. "S-sorry, Emilie..." Lea said before she began crying herself.

Sergey frowned. "That doesn't make any sense, unless...Lea, _can_ you fast travel or log out?" Another shake of Lea's head confirmed Sergey's guess. "See, Emilie? There's nothing to worry about! She _can't_ do any of those things, so she's just stuck here against her will! With...all the homicidal monsters...chasing after her..."

Emilie didn't hear Sergey's fumbled attempt at reassurance. She was trembling as she reeled from the realization that she had been awful to Lea ever since the antivirus started targeting her. Her mind raced in circles thinking about how much worse she must have made things for the person she cared about more than anyone else in the world, and recalling memories of another time when she had jumped to conclusions and blamed Lea for things beyond her control. "... _merde_ ," she muttered under her breath. "Lea, I'm such an idiot." Emilie moved in for a hug, but Lea took a small step back, shaking her head and crying.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you two," Sergey said gently, "but you're in danger right now. They'll be on you in less than a minute. Fortunately, Satoshi told me about a few blind spots in CrossWorlds' security system a while ago, and there's one not too far from you; I'll mark it on your maps. Now hurry! I'll be back in touch as soon as I lean anything useful. Stay safe."

They made it to the safe haven without further incident, though they passed the time there in awkward silence. It turned out to be in the caves under the lake: there was a spot where a wall must have caved in at some point, creating a gap barely large enough for an avatar to squeeze through. On the other side was a surprisingly open cavern that CrossWorlds's security systems had no idea existed, but that still counted as in-bounds and could therefore be accessed by avatars.

As soon as they arrived, Lea slumped against a wall and slid to the floor, hugging her knees. Emilie followed and sat down near her. "Lea, I...I'm so sorry, _chérie_. I should have—"

"Bye." Lea scooted away from her, refusing to make eye contact.

Emilie tried again. "I just want to apolo—"

"Bye!" said Lea, more forcefully.

"Please, if you'll just—" Emilie started to beg.

"BYE!!" Lea screamed so forcefully Emilie could swear she saw the walls shake.

"...fine," Emilie conceded. "I'll shut up, but I don't want to leave you alone. Not with those things after you. They can't delete my brain, after all." Emilie thought for a moment, then added, "...maybe. _D'accord_?"

"...Lea," said Lea after a long pause. She nodded her head, then laid down facing the wall.

Emilie breathed a sigh of relief and found a spot against the opposite wall where she could keep an eye on the entrance to their refuge. " _Bonne nuit,_ Lea," she whispered sadly. She settled in for a long watch and tried to pretend that the muffled sobbing sounds she could hear were just the distorted echoes of water dripping in some far-off cavern.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's uh a bit of a downer we guess, sorry T_T it's okay though! the girls are gonna be fine, probably! or at least mostly fine? we'll see. we didn't actually plan for any of this conflict when we were writing up the outline, it just sort of...happened. Emilie means well but she needs to work on her patience and understanding, and she has DEFINITELY not learned her lesson from the raid incident yet. she's just got ~abandonment issues~ and takes everything way too personally and no we're NOT talking about ourselves what would even make you think that

**Author's Note:**

> The outline for this sprung from our head fully-formed over lunch today, so we figured we had to write it. We're currently expecting this to be 9 chapters plus an epilogue, but who knows what the future may hold.
> 
> We hope you enjoy!


End file.
